Creating Products and Pricing Strategies

Many people feel that promotion is the most exciting part of the marketing mix. Promotion strategy covers personal selling, traditional advertising, public relations, sales promotion, social media, and e-commerce. These elements are called the promotional mix. Each element is coordinated with the others to create a promotional blend. An advertisement, for instance, helps a buyer get to know the company and paves the way for a sales call. A good promotional strategy can dramatically increase a firm's sales.

Public relations plays a special role in promotion. It is used to create a good image of the company and its products. Bad publicity costs nothing to send out, but it can cost a firm a great deal in lost business. Public relations uses many tools, such as publicity, crisis management strategy, and in-house communication to employees. Good publicity, such as a television or magazine story about a firm's new product, may be the result of much time, money, and effort spent by a public-relations department. Public-relations activities always cost money – in salaries and supplies. Public-relations efforts are the least "controllable" of all the tools of promotion, and a great deal of effort and relationship-building is required to develop the ongoing goodwill and networking that is needed to enhance the image of a company.

Sales promotion directly stimulates sales. It includes trade shows, catalogs, contests, games, premiums, coupons, and special offers. It is a direct incentive for the customer to purchase the product immediately. It takes many forms and must adhere to strict laws and regulations. For example, some types of contests and giveaways are not allowed in all the states within the United States. McDonald's discount coupons and contests offering money and food prizes are examples of sales promotions.

Social media is a major element of the promotion mix in today's world. Most businesses have a corporate website, as well as pages on different social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Social media is more powerful as a channel for getting the company's message out to the target market (or general public) than traditional advertising, especially for some target markets. Companies (and even individuals) can use social media to create instant branding. E-commerce is the use of the company website to support and expand the marketing strategies of the 5Ps. It can include actual "order online" capabilities, create online communities, and be used to collect data from both existing and potential customers. Some e-commerce websites offer free games and other interactive options for their customers. All of this activity helps to build and strengthen the long-term relationships of customers with the company.